Chances Are
by giacinta
Summary: Sammy gets into trouble and Dean has to go on mission to save him. Dean's POV. Set around the second half of season seven.


Chances Are.

XXXXXXXXX

"Two hamburgers, a chicken salad, a slice of that delicious looking pie; throw in two of those apples over there, a black coffee and a vanilla latte with all the frills," I said exhibiting my most charming smile, for the girl behind the counter was worthy of my best efforts, but all I got back was the look she probably reserved for men who tortured puppies.

I shrugged. "Can't win them all Dean." I consoled myself, but it rankled just the same.

I was used to girls falling for my easy advances but a quick look around soothed my masculine vanity 'cos the 'don't you dare chat up my girlfriend' stare I was getting from one of the other employees told me that Miss Hot-Chick was already taken.

I thanked her and made my way to the exit.

X

Sam had gone to stock up on some ingredients we needed for various spells, along with other stuff from a local Wiccan store he had found on-line. I hoped he was finished as the walls of my stomach were sticking together, I was so hungry.

I sauntered onto the sidewalk, relieved to see that Sam was already across the street with a couple of bulging paper bags in his hands.

The big geek, I mused fondly, as he saw me and flashed a dimpled smile before taking a quick look around and dashing on to the road.

X

What happened next will always remain one of my most terrible memories as a huge black SUV hurtled around the corner at full speed hitting him square on and sending my little brother flying into the air, returning him to the gray tarmac like some broken rag doll, his limbs all akimbo; the bags he had been carrying hitting the ground along with his body.

I could feel the howl of primal agony that came from my throat as I called his name, my own bags dropping to the sidewalk uncaring, as I rushed onto the road throwing myself down at his side, my heart gushing blood along with that pooling on the road-way from a gashing wound on Sam's head.

X

The ambulance men had to pull me away when they arrived at the scene a few minutes later but as I saw them lift Sam's unmoving body onto the stretcher, my emotions froze solid. It would do Sam no good if I acted on them and started throwing punches around to release the worry and tension I was feeling.

I pulled away from the two men who were holding me and I jumped into the ambulance. "I'm his brother," I announced and I looked on hopelessly while they hooked my little brother up to every damn machine that the ambulance contained.

X

I paced the waiting room incessantly, my eyes never shifting from the curtained cubicle where Sam was lying

The faces of the doctors and nurses at the ER had been more than eloquent. My brother, although still breathing, was a dead man.

I had seen all kinds of wounds and I knew what the verdict would be when the doctor came out to inform me. He was going to tell me what I didn't want to hear, that for Sammy it was over, that my pain-in-the-ass little brother would never bitch or smile or puppy-eye me again and that I would be on my own until a Reaper came for me too.

All my fears were confirmed when I saw the doctor's face, any little hope I had been nursing smashed into a million pieces.

X

"I'm so very sorry, Mr Winchester but there's just nothing we can do. The wound to the head was just too... 'destructive'. He's still breathing with the help of the ventilator for there is still a slight brain activity but I don't …."

"It's alright, doctor. I get it," I heard myself interrupting in the calmest of tones, too calm; I didn't need or want to hear any more.

Sam was my responsibility, I knew what I had to do and it was far beyond what this medic in front of me, telling me that Sam was alive only thanks to a machine, could ever imagine.

X

X

X

The seedy, run-down neighborhood looked no different than it had over a year ago when I paid my first visit. I hoped the person I was looking for still ran his 'business' from the same address. It had been hard enough to trace him then and I didn't have the time to go off on a wild goose chase now.

The man behind the counter waved me on and I made my way up the squalid greasy staircase to my death.

X

"My dear boy," Dr Robert greeted me cheerfully. "I didn't expect to be seeing you again so soon. Didn't your little trip into the afterlife go as well as you hoped?"

"It went fine, Doc, and I didn't think I'd need another 'consultation' quite so soon," I smiled, despite the terrible weight in my heart. "But I got some business to attend to on the other side."

I pulled out an envelope with a wad of cash and consigned it into his eager hands.

"Same price as last time?" I asked.

"Well my tariffs have gone up a bit; inflation and costs you understand, but for you Dean my boy, no problem."

X

He pocketed the money and indicated the bed.

"You still got that sweet little nurse working for you; the one who missed her vocation in the SS's concentration camps," I asked remembering her rough bedside manner.

"Uh, no! I'm afraid we had a misunderstanding and I had to dispense with her services. Personal reasons, you understand!" he added evasively.

I pursed my lips and nodded. I could just imagine how personal.

X

"So you run the joint all by yourself now?"

"Fraid so; trained people are so hard to come by."

"Right, I can imagine, especially in your line of work!" I agreed but I wasn't in the mood for small talk, not with Sam at death's door.

"Just set yourself down on the table and we'll get started. You know the drill, Dean. Three minutes and I'll bring you back."

I nodded as I lay back and felt the prick of the needle on my skin; I had spent most of my life trying to avoid death but I wasn't immune to the irony of having spent more years dead than alive.

At this moment, however I was eager for death 'cos it was the only way I could hope to get Sammy back. If I couldn't then I wouldn't care if the Doc revived me or not.

I started to count down from ten as ordered and I felt the now familiar whoosh as my soul detached itself from my body.

X

Like everything else, learning to get around in the afterlife takes practice but when I had worn Death's ring I had gotten in plenty. I willed myself to be in the hospital at Sam's side and bingo, there he was but he wasn't alone.

"Hello, Dean," Tessa greeted me, a resigned expression on her face."Why am I not surprised to see you?"

I shrugged my shoulders, the reason was perfectly obvious. My brother was border-line dead, what did she expect?

X

"The question is why are you the reaper here, Tessa?" I countered.

"It wasn't me who was supposed to reap Sam's soul but I called in a favour. I thought it would make his crossing over more 'acceptable' if he saw a familiar face waiting for him," she said quietly.

I was moved that she would bother to do that for us but I had no intention of letting her reap Sam's soul at all.

My baby brother was staying right back on Earth with me.

X

"Sam's not going to die. It's not his time, " I declared emphatically. Not even Tessa' presence was going to make me accept Sam's death.

"Dean, you remember what happened when you wore Death's ring? Haven't you learned your lesson about interfering when a person is slated to die?" she scolded.

"Thing is," I answered. "Sam 's time hasn't come yet. He wasn't supposed to get mowed down by that SUV."

Tessa looked at me, not without pity.

"And just how do you know that Dean, maybe he wasn't destined to be torn to death by some monster but this was how it had to go down , a run of the mill car accident."

"No way! Call your boss, Tessa. We need to talk."

X

X

"Dean, Dean, Dean," a familiar voice chanted behind me. The pale horseman himself had graced our presence.

Usually when Death is around I tremble like a leaf; I don't understand why but from the first time we met in the pizza parlour the sight of him makes me want to wet my pants.

This time however I wasn't afraid, well maybe just a pinch, but as always happens when I'm on a mission to save my little brother's ass, the overwhelming need to look out for Sam overcomes all my panic.

X

"What is it this time? I didn't think you would have the effrontery to show your face again. You'll be looking for another favour I imagine, but I'm through helping you. I like you Dean but that doesn't mean I have a contract to fulfill your every wish."

"Listen, Man I get it. I know I can be a real pain in the ass but you have to help me. Tessa is here to reap Sam's soul but it's not his time..."

"I see you learned nothing from our last encounter. It's Sam's time. Accept it. He will be at rest. Would you deny your brother that; you who maintain to love him and are willing to do anything for him? Let him go in peace; has he not suffered enough?

I was nearly tempted for I couldn't deny that Sam had suffered cruelly in his short life and maybe I **_was_** being a selfish brat, but if Sam died, there was no way I was going on without him.

X

"Tell me, is it my time to die too? " I asked.

Death and Tessa exchanged looks.

"I haven't seen your name in the lists for the near future, no," Death admitted.

"Well then, you say you can't meddle with the list of deaths but if Sam dies then I die too, so your little sequence is going to be out of order anyway. You're just as well letting Sam live," I countered.

"And in any case I wouldn't be in so much of a hurry to get Sam and me into the after-life. You don't know what we might get up to! If I was you, I'd let us live on until the very last moment."

Sometimes I even surprise myself with my badassery. Giving Death any kind of ultimatum has to be way up on the scale!

X

Strangely enough I could see Death considering my words. Maybe he didn't want any Winchesters causing trouble in his nicely-ordered world. I wondered where my dad was, for he was pretty good at causing trouble too but I didn't think this was the best moment to ask about that!

"I don't want to hurry you or anything," I urged for I could feel my soul being tugged back to my body. "But I'm kinda short on time here."

Death took a deep breath and almost huffed. "Be it so," he sentenced. "You can have your brother back for now, but if I ever see your face here again, believe me, I won't be so obliging."

X

I sighed with relief as my soul was pulled back into my body and I glanced up into the worried eyes of Doc Robert.

"You cut it pretty thin this time, boy. I don't know if my weak heart can take any more of this," he grumbled.

I smirked up at him. "Don't worry, doc, the next time I come back, I'll double your payment."

X

I pulled myself up from the table and yanked out my phone.

"This is Dean Winchester. Could you give me an update on my brother Sam Winchester?"

"Mr Winchester, I've got some very good news for you, you're brother seems to have taken a turn for the better," a nurse's awed voice answered.

"Thanks, I'll be there as soon as I can, " I said, my heart bursting with happiness.

"I see that things seem to have gone well," the doc smiled, glimpsing my joyous expression.

X

I laid a hand on his shoulder, hugging him was just not on! "Yeah, Doc. Thanks man. You saved my bacon and not just mine."

"Tell me, Dean. If things hadn't "gone well" would you have come back to your body?"

"That's something we'll never know, is it?" I smiled.

It was a lie for I knew that if Sam had died on that hospital bed, I would have been standing right there next to Tessa waiting to hug him when his soul arrived.

X

X

"Hey, Sasquatch?" I said, trying to hide my relief as I saw my little brother sitting up alive and well in the hospital bed.

"You feeling okay?"

Sam looked at me with a strange expression in his eyes. "What happened to me, Dean? I can't remember much."

"What was the last thing you recall?" I asked.

Sam frowned. "I remember going into the wiccan store and buying stuff, but that's it."

I moved over to the bed. "Scoot over man, leave a space for my ass."

Sam shuffled obediently over to the side.

X

"You got run down by a car, it was touch and go, but you're tougher than you look Sammy and you pulled through." I explained untruthfully.

"How come the doctors are talking about a miracle, then, Dean?"

Sam clamped a plate-sized hand on my shoulder."Are you sure you're telling me everything?" he asked suspiciously.

"Would I lie to you, Sam?"

"Yeah, Dean, you would! You've got that look in your eye that tells me you've been up to something."

x

As I watched, I saw the understanding come to Sam's eyes. and he asked the million dollar question.

"Did I die Dean? Did you do something stupid?" Sam bitched as he shook my arm.

"Ow, stop it Sam, you're gonna sever the nerves! No, you didn't die," I said and technically it was true for the machines had been keeping him alive.

"And if you're referring to selling souls and stuff I didn't, so stop bitching," I ordered as I pulled him into the hug I'd been dying to give him since I entered the room.

X

XXXX The enD XXXX

I tried to keep any mistakes to a minimum , sorry if any slipped through.:(


End file.
